The Beatles – Who Were They?

by admin on November 25, 2009

This is the first of a series of articles which will be trying to delve a little deeper into the life and times of the Beatles.
We will be looking at their history, their time in Hamburg, their time at the Cavern Club, their time in America, and the time they spent in the Studio, together with other fascinating little known facts that have come to light over the years.
Without doubt the Beatles are an iconic group, a one off, and although it is getting on for 40 years now since they broke up, their fame and influence is still as strong now as it was back in the 1960’s and early 70’s.
I grew up during the Beatles era, and everywhere that I have travelled around the world they are known, and loved. I remember being in a small nightclub in Thailand where there was a Chinese Beatles tribute band playing, and although I personally did not appreciate the sound that they produced, particularly the singing, they were immensely popular with the locals.
On another occasion I was on holiday in Peru, and half way up a mountain I came across a bunch of Peruvians playing their type of music, on pipes, but the song they were playing was Love Me Do.
So, who were The Beatles?
Well let me begin by telling you the basics, something which many of you reading this will know, but to many of our younger readers this basic information may be something which they have never got a handle on.
The Beatles were a pop group ( as they were called in those days) and they came from a city in the north of England known as Liverpool.
The group consisted of John Lennon who played rhythm guitar and vocals, Paul McCartney who played bass guitar and vocals, George Harrison who played lead guitar and vocals, and Ringo Starr who played drums and vocals.
Two other names were former members – Pete Best, drums, and Stuart Sutcliffe, bass.
I think if you had asked The Beatles what was their style of music in the early days they would probably have told you that they were strongly influenced by rock and roll, and skiffle. Later on this style did change quite a bit, but that was their early influence.
Now it is true to say that not only were they influenced by many earlier groups and styles of music, but they were quite an influence on many groups that came after them.
Their music, the clothes they wore, the things they did and said, all had an enormous influence on the young people of the day, 1n the 1960’s.
When eventually the group broke up in 1970, John, Paul, George and Ringo all pursued their own solo careers, and we will be looking at those careers in more details in forthcoming articles.
If you would like to be kept updated on future articles then please go to my website and near the bottom of the page you will find my email address. You simply need to email me and ask to be kept updated.

John Charles is a guitarist who has met all The Beatles. Please visit my website at http://www. GuitarPlayingMadeEasy. com to be kept updated.

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